Welcome To My Nightmare
by VivienneGray
Summary: Merlin is kidnapped and taken to the abandoned town of Hollygroves. Arthur faces his worst nightmares while trying to save him. [Modern Day AU] - Inspired by watching TheRadBrad playing Silent Hill: Downpour :)
1. Chapter 1

It had been almost two hours since he had received the email. It had been fairly short, consisting of a few uncaring words and a photograph. A photograph that made Arthur's blood run cold; Merlin lay naked in an empty room, his hands were tied behind his back and his eyes staring into the camera, full of fear. It made Arthur nauseous just thinking of it, and as the taxi pulled to yet another stop, Arthur rested his head against the window, ignored the babbling driver, and thought of his journey ahead. The email gave him a specific address in a specific town, and Arthur couldn't help but wonder if it was all a trap. Was Merlin even at this address? And why would the kidnappers even give him the location, unless they wanted him, too, of course. But honestly, all that mattered to Arthur was getting Merlin home, safe. Alive. The taxi kicked into action once again, and Arthur peered out of the window for the remainder of the journey.

'G-go on, you can walk from here.' The man sputtered nervously from the driver's seat, as he pulled to a stop at the bottom of a steep, misty hill.

'What? Why?'

'I aint goin' no further, the- the fog, it's too thick, and…'

'If you hadn't noticed,' Arthur stated, unbuckling his seatbelt and leaning forward. 'I'm in a bit of a hurry! Now I paid you to take me the whole way there. So do it!'

'Can't go no further, mister, I do apologise. What with the sink 'oles and all…' The driver's knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel, and he sank lower in his seat.

'Then…' Arthur lifted his jacket from the seat next to him and turned to the door. 'I want my money back!' he said, angrily as he pushed open the door and stepped out into the cool night air.

'No can do, sir.' The driver said, as he began to reverse back down the road, leaving Arthur stood in the stillness of the night.

'Bloody cab drivers…' Arthur mumbled to himself as he pulled on his jacket. He watched as the headlights slowly faded to darkness and when they were finally gone, he shoved his hands in his pockets and began to make his way up the hill, and towards the town. At least, he hoped he was heading the right way. He barely knew if this was the right direction. The cab driver hadn't said if they were anywhere near the town, and the night was getting darker by the second. This hill was steeper than Arthur had anticipated, and as he reached the halfway mark he had to stop for a moment to catch his breath. Looking around him, Arthur stood up straight. All around him, he could see eyes appearing from the darkness around him, staring at him hungrily. Turning back to the bottom of the hill, he squinted his eyes in an attempt to see if there were any headlights making their way towards him, but he saw nothing but the night. Stumbling forwards, Arthur started to walk, a little quicker now, as he felt himself being watched, and his childhood fear of the dark slowly started creeping up on him. Breaking into a run, Arthur

was soon out of breath. He hadn't needed to run since high school, which was more that ten years ago now, and his body was not used to exercise as he spent most of his days now lounging around his home, making business calls and organising meetings. All too suddenly, Arthur found himself falling to the ground, and he threw his arms out in front of him. Landing with a thud, Arthur lay on his stomach for a moment, expecting something to jump out of the darkness and grab him. Of course, nothing did, and eventually Arthur lifted his head and looked around him. To his left, there was what appeared to be a bench, perched at the very edge of the forest and slowly freezing over. Getting to his knees, he brushed dust and dirt from his shirt (brand new that morning) and looked ahead, surprised to see in the distance, a faint shimmer of light. Looking back over his shoulder, Arthur placed a hand to his chest, counting the number of times his heart thudded against his ribcage, then slowly he got to his feet, checking for any damage the fall might have caused. Other than a small ache in his knees, Arthur could feel no pain, so he walked on, slowly growing calmer as the lights got brighter.

The town of Hollygrove was nothing like Arthur had seen before. All around him were grey buildings, abandoned and falling down, and the streets were littered with people's belongings; mobile phones lay discarded and smashed to pieces on the pavements, a child's pram was crushed under the tyres of a crashed mini cooper. A breeze floated through the empty town centre, making Arthur shiver, and he pulled his jacket tighter around him. The source of the light was straight ahead of him, flickering off and on and off and on. Arthur made his way towards the shop window, constantly looking around him.

The path that lay head him was long and dark, with the only source of light disappearing once again as Arthur reached a still-working water fountain. He reached down and touched the cool marble circle that contained a few gallons of freezing cold water. Floating face-down in the water was a limbless rag doll. Red thread slipped from the places where her eyes used to be, almost like blood, and around her neck was a thin piece of string with a small, square piece of paper attached to it. Leaning forward, Arthur squinted his eyes as he stood on his knees on the marble wall. Rolling up a sleeve, he peered behind him before reaching into the water and picking up the doll. Turning her over, he examined the child's toy, noting the claw marks that trailed across the fabric of the dolls stomach. Lifting the piece of paper, Arthur could barely make out three words that were scrawled across it, as once again the light flickered off.

Sighing loudly, Arthur ran a hand across his tired eyes and stood, dropping his hands to his sides. He turned and once again headed for the shop with the flickering lights.

Lifting the doll close to his face, Arthur saw that the words on the paper had been scribbled in pink crayon, in a child's handwriting. As he read the sentence, the hairs stood up on Arthur's arms, as a chill ran through him:

_He's behind you!_

Almost instantly, Arthur spun around, dropping the doll to the ground and lifting his arms in front of his face, not knowing what he expected to see standing behind him. There was nothing but a lamppost, upon which a bicycle was chained, forgotten by its owner. Squeezing his eyes shut, Arthur repeated to himself in whispers: _There's nothing there, there's nothing there. Nothing there._ Turning back round, Arthur leaned against the window of the shop to steady himself before pressing his face to the cold glass of the shop window and peered inside. It seemed like any regular convenient store to him. Shelves were piled high with bread and tinned soup, and bottled of fizzy drinks. Next to the window were three check-out points. Looking up, Arthur saw a light, the cover smashed to pieces exposing the cracked bulb to the world, and off to the right of the tills, he could make out the faint glow of the fire exit sign.

Arthur made his way around the side of the building, careful not to step on any of the things that lay strewn around the pavement. Reaching out a hand, Arthur gripped the handle and began to turning it.

'Ar- he—- need hel-. Q-ic-'

Arthur spun around and pressed himself tightly against the door. His breath seemed too loud, and Arthur held a hand over his mouth to quieten it, unsure of where the strange voice had come from. Darting his eyes around the empty street, Arthur was frozen to the spot. Somewhere in the distance, he heard the faint crackling of a radio, and as he slowly moved his hand from his mouth, he began to laugh.

'Radio. It-it was only a…' he pushed away from the door and straightened himself. 'Radio.' Turning back to the door, he waited for his heart to get back to it's normal rate before turning the handle and pushing on the door. _Locked. _

'Damn.' Arthur whispered.

Rushing over to the opposite building, he tried the handle and was once again disheartened to find it locked. Pushing against the door, Arthur groaned.

'Come _on!_' he strained, using all his energy trying to open it. Finding his efforts useless, Arthur stopped and stood in the middle of the street, gazing at the ground and trying to think of a plan.

'Alright,' he said, quietly. 'Alright, think Arthur. I have to- to find Merlin, he has to be here _somewhere_, and I have to man up and stop jumping at the smallest sound.' Putting up his hood, Arthur rubbed his hands together and turned in circles.

'Okay, now that,' he points his clasped-together hands towards a small building, with a strip of red running along the wall. 'Looks like a post office… maybe a- a bank?' Arthur sighed and faced another direction.

'Ah, a school? A-a… offices?' Arthur groaned loudly, unsure of what to do next.

After a while of wandering around, Arthur finally gave up. Heading for the nearest bench, he sat down and put his head in his hands. All this time, he had tried his best to keep his mind away from Merlin, from that _photograph _that had been sent to him, but now, in the silence, it came flooding into his mind, and all too soon, Arthur let out a sob. Out of all the people who Arthur cared about, why had they chosen Merlin? The one he cared about the _most._ Ever since their first meeting three years ago, Arthur knew that there was something about the man, and that something made Arthur's stomach do cartwheels every time he set eyes on the raven haired man. The man that had saved him from himself on more occasions than Arthur had thanked him for, and now he was the one doing the saving. He had to save Merlin, at any cost, and as he sat himself up, Arthur swiped the tears from his eyes.

'I'm coming, Merlin.' He said out loud. 'I promise.' Getting to his feet, he clenched his fists together to stop them from shaking as he made his way along a dark side street. A block of flats stood, unstable, straight ahead of him, and all around him were narrow alleyways

that seemed to beckon Arthur to them. Moving to the middle of the road, Arthur kept his eyes fixed on the block of flats, refusing to answer the darkness that was calling him. All of a sudden, Arthur found the world around him starting to spin, and Arthur began moving faster, desperately searching for a way off the streets, for a nice warm house.

'M-Merlin…' Arthur mumbled, drowsily, as he slipped into blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur blinked open his eyes. The light was almost blinding, and all around him he could hear the scurrying of rats, burying their way into the floorboards.

Opening his eyes halfway, Arthur felt something wet and sticky on the left side of his head. Lifting his hand to his cheek, he was shocked to find that when he pulled it away, it was tinted red. Pushing himself into a sitting position, Arthur looked around him. He was no longer in the street; he lay on what appeared to be a burned mattress, a dark blue blanket covered his legs, covered in rips and tears. The room he was in was bare except for a green rocking horse that sat in the corner, and a chair that sat in the middle of the room. A small stream of light flooded into the room, making it almost difficult for him to see. The room smelt wet and musty, as if it had been raining in the desert, and the sound of a machine rattling in the distance cancelled out the sound of silence. Arthur wiped the bloody hand on his jeans and looked up to the source of the light.

High up on the wall, there was a small window that was covered by steel bars, letting in just enough light that Arthur was able to see the basic layout of the room and nothing more. Shuffling forward on the long-dead mattress, Arthur peeked his head around the corner and saw a door. Big and iron, with more steel bars running through it, Arthur doubted he'd be able to get the door open, no matter how hard he tried. Hell, he could barely lift his arms at the moment. His energy seemed to have been drained, and Arthur moved back towards the wall, leaning his head back and looking at the broken light that hung from the ceiling. He felt his eyes grow heavy, and after a while, Arthur fell asleep yet again.

_Clang. Thud. Bang._

Arthur's eyes flew open as he heard the sounds in the distance. He looked to the door, trying to make out any shapes in the darkness. His eyes took time to adjust, and the shapes came slowly but surely as Arthur leaned against the wall, blinking his eyes rapidly. A migraine crashed through his skull, causing his stomach to turn and his brain to hurt. Using the wall to steady himself, Arthur hurriedly got to his feet.

Cautiously, Arthur took a step around the corner, quickly recoiling when he heard a loud crash a mere inches from where he stood. Backing up to the corner, Arthur crouched down, hoping that the darkness was enough to hide him from whatever was out there. In the distance, Arthur could make out the sound of footsteps approaching. Looking around the room again, Arthur tried to find somewhere he could hide, somewhere he would not be seen, but there was nothing. No cupboards, no dark holes he could crawl into. Nothing.

As the footsteps gradually got closer, Arthur squeezed his eyes shut and whispered to himself.

'Please, oh fuck, please don't come in here...'

Arthur's prayers went unanswered, as the footsteps stopped right outside his door. Opening one eye halfway, Arthur saw the beam of a flashlight flooding through the bars of the door and scanning the room. A key turned in the lock, and Arthur pressed himself closer to the wall, trying his hardest to blend into it.

The door swung open, crashing against the stone wall, and the footsteps slowly entered the room, followed by the echoing sound of somebody whistling. Arthur pulled his knees closer to him and hid his face as the footsteps stopped close to him. Risking a peek, Arthur saw the beam of light roaming from the rocking horse, to the wall opposite him, to the bed where he recently lay. The whistling grew louder and the footsteps closer, and Arthur felt a flutter in the bottom of his chest. He lifted a hand to cover his mouth, suddenly overcome a feeling of nausea. Following the beam of light, Arthur saw a torch appearing round the corner, and the whistling turned into the croaky sound of a man singing.

'_Ain't gonna rain… no more… no more…' A shadow appeared around the corner, followed by a foot, followed by a leg._

'_Aint gonna…' Arthur felt the sweat rolling from his hair line and down his face. 'rain…' His heart was beating so hard, Arthur thought it would burst free from his chest. 'No…'Arthur looked up as the full figure of a man appeared before him, and his heart threatened to burst, as the flashlight was abruptly turned off, and the man's voice turned into a whisper._

'_More…'_

The face that stared back at Arthur was painted white. He had dark purple circles drawn around his grey eyes. His lips had been carefully painted red, and thin lines of red dripped down from the corners of his mouth like blood. He was dressed in a pair of grey dungarees, and his greasy black hair had been slicked back away from his face, revealing a long, deep slash in his forehead. Arthur found his throat was suddenly dry, and as the thing moved towards him, he tried to move away.  
'G-g-get away from me.' Me stuttered, fearfully. Arthur flinched as the man burst into laughter.  
'A-ha-ha-ha. Ooooh, is the big brave knight-in-shining-armour a-scared of little ol' me?' he said, in a high-pitched voice. Suddenly his face fell, and he snarled, revealing a set of almost-black, broken teeth.  
'Well 'ya should be!' Arthur flinched.  
'I'm the worst nightmare you've ever had, m'dear…' the man said, as he began to prance around the room. Once again, he burst into laughter.  
'Haw-ha-ha-ha, the look on yer face, laddie. Priceless!' Arthur sat horrified, frozen to the spot, as the odd man pranced about him, occasionally looking right into his eyes and grinning a toothless grin. Arthur closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the man was nowhere to be seen. Moving to his knees, Arthur crawled slowly towards the corner of the room and peered towards the doorway. The doorway, and the hallway, were empty, and Arthur collapsed back against the wall, almost crying with relief. Turning to look back at the mattress, Arthur yelled out in fear, as he was now looking into the eyes of the man who had disappeared. The warm, death-like smell of his breath made Arthur gag, and he quickly scrambled to his feet and turned, willing his legs to move faster and faster as he sped down the pitch-black hallway.  
Turning corner after corner, Arthur didn't dare look behind him for fear that he was being followed. His legs started to ache, and his chest felt like it was on fire as he turned one last corner and found himself running face-first into a wall. Falling backwards to the ground, Arthur whimpered and threw his arms over his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to try to calm himself. When that failed, he rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up onto his knees, keeping his head bowed and willing his breathing back to normal.  
Arthur stayed like that for a good few minutes, until he was sure that he'd be able to stand again. Taking one last deep breath, Arthur lifted his head, wincing at the pain that ran through his stiff neck. Moving into a kneeling position, he rubbed the back of his neck and groaned.  
The hallway in front of him was dim and dull, though it was a little lighter than the room he had woken up in, Arthur still couldn't see very far ahead of him. The sound of clanking machinery was closer now, and the noise was a hymn to Arthur's ears. Being in silence for so long had started to take effect on him, and as he got to his feet, he looked around trying to find the source of the noise. Walking to the crossroads, Arthur glanced left and then right, struggling to choose a way to go. Closing his eyes, Arthur smiled as a recent memory of himself and Merlin popped into his head.

The two men sat at opposite ends of the dinner table, Merlin holding a phone in his hand and grinning at Arthur.  
'Come on, we can't get Pepperoni and mushroom, Art. Hurry up and decide.' Merlin said, watching as Arthur carefully balanced a coin on its side and spun it. The man looked up and into the blue eyes of his friend, a grin spreading across his face.  
'Heads or tails?' he asked.

Flinging his eyes open, Arthur promptly turned to the right and started to walk.  
'Tails…' he said, quietly. 'Always tails.'  
Three doors appeared in front of him, and Arthur headed to the first one, turning the handle only to find that it was locked. Shaking his head slightly, he continued on down the hall for a few metres until he came to the next door. Shaking the handle, he was a little relieved to find that this door was also locked. He hadn't the faintest idea what was behind these doors, and he'd prefer it if it stayed that way. He'd never admit it, but this place was starting to freak him out. Heading over to the last door, which was opposite the one he had just tried, Arthur reached out a hand and turned the handle.  
The door creaked open slightly, and Arthur took a step forwards, pushing the door further open as he moved. The room had a little light coming in from the two windows that were set in the wall in opposite the door, and under one of the windows was a desk, covered in papers and pens and pencils. At the corner of the desk there was a lamp, and Arthur rushed over to it, pulling the cord and smiling when the bulb turned on. The room was now filled with light, and the darkness from the hallway seemed scarier to Arthur than it had before, so he walked to the door and quietly pushed it shut. The room had two chairs, both overturned, and a wardrobe in the corner. An old curtain lay shredded on the floor, while it's twin hung lamely from the curtain pole. Arthur lifted one of the chairs and set it right. Lowering himself into it, he leaned backward, enjoying the feeling of safety.


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur was jolted awake at the sound of his name being called. Looking around the room with hazy eyes, Arthur could see nothing of interest. He blinked his eyes a couple of times in order to get them focused, and then he looked to the doorway. Stood there in the doorway was Merlin. His skin seemed whiter than usual, and his eyes looked like they shone in the shadows. Arthur got to his feet, and Merlin turned and headed into the dark hallway.

All around him, Arthur could hear his name being whispered, he could hear eerie laughter and children singing. As He reached the doorway, his legs went weak, and he fell against the door frame.  
'Mer… Merlin!' he called out, as he watched the man walking along the hallway. Merlin looked back over his shoulder and grinned, and all of a sudden his image flickered, and n his place stood a small girl, he hair flying as she skipped down the hallway singing her song. In her hands were a skipping rope, pink and red, and the girl paused, preparing to jump. She lifted off the ground, and as she landed, Merlin returned. Except now, he was different. Patches of his raven hair were missing. Rusted chains covered his body, and his hands were chained behind his back. In his hands he held a sledgehammer, which trailed noisily along the ground behind him.  
Arthur rubbed his tired eyes, and bowed his head. He held his hands out in front of him, trying to work out if he was in a dream. The singing had quietened, the laughter had gotten louder. But the sound of his name was somewhere in the middle, too loud to go unheard but to quiet to hear over the sound of manic laughter that echoed around him. Arthur ducked back behind the wall and knelt in the shadows. Across the hallway, Merlin had reached the corner and had now turned. He glared at Arthur, beckoning him forward, and Arthur complied. Half-crawling, he made his way around the corner and towards his alleged friend. Something didn't feel right to Arthur, and as he crept towards Merlin, the hairs on the back of his arms jumped to attention.  
In front of him, the image of Merlin continued to flicker, and as Arthur finally reached him, he once again disappeared, and was replaced by the image of the little girl. Except this was no little girl, not any more. Her eyes had been covered with two crosses made of masking tape, and as Arthur looked to the source of the song, he stumbled backwards, for the girl's mouth had been hastily  
sewn shut.  
'Oh god…' he exclaimed. He continued moving backwards until his back hit the wall, and then he just stood and watched as the child readied her skipping rope. As she began to jump, another voice echoed through the halls.  
'Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep,' The little girl began jumping in time to the rhyme, and Arthur stood still, watching as, with every jump, the girl's skin slowly started to dissolve. Arthur moved sideways along the wall, keeping his eyes fixed on the girl, who was slowly disappearing.  
All too suddenly, the room began to shake, causing dust and debris to fall to the floor, and slowly Arthur's vision became blurred. He looked down the hallway, hesitating for a moment before breaking into a sprint. Up ahead, on his left, Arthur spotted an open door that definitely hadn't been there before, and he ran to it.

The door suddenly seemed further away, and Arthur willed his legs to move faster as the shaking of the room became more violent. Reaching out his hands, Arthur glanced behind him and saw nothing but fallen beams and bricks, and as he turned back, the door was suddenly right next to him. Halting in his tracks, Arthur turned and quickly pushed open the door, stepping inside and slamming it shut behind him.

The room he had entered was a bedroom. In the middle of the room was a table, covered in broken glass, and looking up Arthur guessed the glass was from the shattered light above it. Beside the table was a bed, there was no mattress or pillows, nothing suggesting that anybody had slept in it for a while. Arthur headed for the wardrobe that was behind the door and swung open the doors. Inside was an orange jumpsuit, the kind a prisoner would wear. Attached to the chest was a white rectangle with the numbers #076893 sewn into it in black thread.

After searching the wardrobe thoroughly, Arthur turned back to the room and walked over to the table. Pulling open the top drawer, a flashlight rolled forward and banged against the front of the drawer. Picking it up, Arthur clicked the switch and was surprised when a beam of light appeared.

'Thank god.' He whispered, slipping the light into his jacket pocket. He continued to search the room, finding nothing but papers with faded words and an old stop watch that no longer ticked. Heading back out to the hallway, Arthur pulled the torch from his pocket and switched it on, shining it down both hallways before deciding on the left one.


End file.
